FORA Capital LLC Buys Shares of 60,784 The Mosaic Company $MOS

Key Points

• FORA Capital LLC has acquired a new stake in The Mosaic Company, purchasing 60,784 shares valued at approximately $1.64 million in the first quarter.
• Mosaic Company reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.51 for the last quarter, falling short of analysts' estimates of $0.71, with revenues of $3.01 billion compared to a consensus estimate of $3.11 billion.
• Several analysts have updated their ratings for Mosaic, with Zacks upgrading the stock from "hold" to "strong-buy" and price targets raised by firms including Barclays and JPMorgan Chase.

FORA Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 60,784 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $1,642,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Mosaic by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 84,110 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,067,000 after acquiring an additional 1,239 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its position in Mosaic by 21.0% during the fourth quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 9,208 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $226,000 after buying an additional 1,600 shares in the last quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC purchased a new position in Mosaic during the fourth quarter worth approximately $271,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Mosaic by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,171,642 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $127,119,000 after buying an additional 287,493 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC lifted its position in Mosaic by 985.1% during the fourth quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 955,804 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $23,494,000 after buying an additional 867,722 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.54% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MOS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Mosaic from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Mosaic from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 11th. CIBC upped their price target on Mosaic from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Barclays upped their target price on Mosaic from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Mosaic from $38.00 to $34.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mosaic currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $36.42.

Mosaic Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of MOS stock traded down $0.56 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $33.39. 2,971,198 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,461,103. The Mosaic Company has a fifty-two week low of $22.36 and a fifty-two week high of $38.23. The stock has a market cap of $10.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.32, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.37.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.71 by ($0.20). Mosaic had a net margin of 8.35% and a return on equity of 4.74%. The firm had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.54 EPS. Mosaic's revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that The Mosaic Company will post 2.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mosaic Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. Mosaic's payout ratio is presently 29.83%.

Mosaic Company Profile

The Mosaic Company, through its subsidiaries, produces and markets concentrated phosphate and potash crop nutrients in North America and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Phosphates, Potash, and Mosaic Fertilizantes. It owns and operates mines, which produce concentrated phosphate crop nutrients, such as diammonium phosphate, monoammonium phosphate, and ammoniated phosphate products; and phosphate-based animal feed ingredients primarily under the Biofos and Nexfos brand names, as well as produces a double sulfate of potash magnesia product under K-Mag brand name.